Sickle sharpener



L. MURRAY SICKLE SHARPENER June 5, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 5,1952 [ll] Mal b n m N m M NW, v\\ NN N u bw WW Q b .Q SQ Q g 2: I o o N!.W s Jr W 0 o O o 00 nu uoooo uooeeoonoowoo00O INVENTOR. ESTERfill/717A) ATTORNEY June 5, 1956 L. MURRAY 2,748,539

SICKLE SHARPENER Filed Sept. 5, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 45575;?MURRAY ya/9M A-rroawsr United States Patent SICKLE SHARPENER LesterMurray, Dallas, Tex.

Application September 5, 1952, Serial N 0. 307,991

2 Claims. (Cl. 51-92) This invention relates to a sickle sharpener andhas for its primary object to sharpen the cutting blades of aconventional sickle of the type employed on a mowingmachine.

Another object is to yielding hold adjacent cutting teeth of the cuttingblade of a sickle against a rotating abrasive wheel to efiect a grindingof the cutting edges of the teeth.

A further object is to lock the sickle against advance toward thegrinding wheel during such periods as the machine is at rest, forinstance during the time that a sharpened blade is being removed fromthe sickle blade support, or during the period of time that a dull bladeis being placed in position to be sharpened.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this inventionwhich embodies among its features an abrasive wheel mounted to rotateabout a horizontal axis, a carriage mounted to move in a rectilinearpath parallel with said horizontal axis, spaced arms carried by thecarriage for movement about a common axis toward and away from thehorizontal axis, and a sickle support carried by the arms for rockingmovement in an arcuate path about an axis which lies parallel with butremote from the common axis.

Other features include a stop carried by the sickle support in parallelrelation to the horizontal axis, clamps carried by the sickle supportand engaging a sickle to clamp it against the stop, a spring carried bythe carriage and connected to the sickle support for rocking the sicklesupport away from the horizontal axis and a spring connected to thecarriage and to the sickle support for yieldingly urging the sicklesupport downwardly in an armate path toward the horizontal axis.

Other features include a hook carried below the trackway for detachableconnection with the sickle support to hold it against movement under theinfluence of the springs.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a front view in elevation of a sickle sharpening machineembodying the features of this invention and showing a sickle mountedthereon,

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the device shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line5 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of the device shown in Figure 1,and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the carriage and sicklesupport.

Referring to the drawings in detail a table of substantially rectangularplan is provided adjacent one side edge with an elongated angle iron 12having an upstanding flange 14 forming a trackway which extendshorizontally as will be readily understood upon reference to thedrawings. Mounted on the table for rotation about a horizontal axiswhich lies in spaced parallel relation to the trackway 14 is an abrasivewheel 16 which is 2,748,539 Patented June 5, 1956 driven in aconventional manner through an endless belt 18 which is operativelyconnected to a prime mover 20 mounted on the table 10 adjacent the edgethereof and remote from the trackway 14.

Mounted for movement longitudinally of the trackway in a rectilinearpath which lies parallel to the horizontal axis is a carriage designatedgenerally 22 which comprises an angle bar 24 having an upstanding flange26 which lies against the upstanding flange 14 of the angle bar 12 whichforms the trackway. Mounted on the base flange of the angle bar 24 forrotation about longitudinally spaced axes which lie parallel to theupwardly extending flange 26 are rollers 28 which project throughopenings 30 formed in the upstanding flange 26 to peripherally engagethe trackway 14 and have rolling contact therewith. Peripherally groovedcarriage supporting rollers 32 are carried by the upstanding flange 26adjacent the ends thereof for rotation about longitudinally spacedhorizontal axes, and these rollers 32 ride on the upper edge of thetrackway 14 as will be readily understood upon reference to thedrawings. A hold down roller 34 is carried by a depending arm 36 carriedby the carriage 22 adjacent one end thereof and this hold down rollerengages the underside of the horizontal leg of the angle bar 12 adjacentthe trackway 14. It will thus be seen that the carriage is held againstmovement relative to the trackway except longitudinally thereon in arectilinear path.

Carried by the base flange of the angle bar 24 adjacent opposite endsthereof are upstanding ears 38, and pivotally connected as at 40 to thecars 38 for movement about a' common axis which lies parallel of theaxis of the abrasive r elongated rock arms 46. These arms are connectedintermediate their ends to the pivots 44, and carried by the arms 46 andextending therebetween adjacent the ends thereof adjacent the horizontalaxis is an angle bar 48 forming the supporting element of the sickle tobe sharpened. Carried by and extending between the rock arms 46 adjacentthe ends thereof remote from the sickle support 4-8 is a tie bar 50.Sickle stops 52 are carried by the sickle support 48 at each end thereofand the support 48 has aflixed thereto a pair of barrels 54 through eachof which the shank 56 of a sickle clamping hook 58 extends. As showneach shank 56 is provided adjacent the end thereof remote from itsrespective book 58 with external screw threads 60 and threaded on thethreaded end of each shank 56 is a thumb nut 62 which is adapted to bearagainst its adjacent barrel S4 and when turned to move the hook 58 intoor out of clamping position with a sickle S. Carried by the arms 42intermediate the ends thereof and extending between said arms is abridge plate 64 and connected to the bridge plate 64 intermediateopposite ends thereof is one end of a retractile coil spring 66, theopposite end of which is connected to the sickle support 48. A similarretractile coil spring 68 is connected at one end to the bridge plate 64and at its opposite end to the tie bar 50 as will be readily understoodupon reference to Figure 4. The downward pull of the spring 66 tends toyieldingly move the sickle support 48 toward a horizontal plane in anarcuate path which intersects the horizontal axis of the grinding wheel16 while the effort of the spring 68 tends to hold the arms 42 away fromthe horizontal axis of the grinding wheel 16. Since the spring 66 isslightly stronger than the spring 68, little manual effort is requiredto advance a sickle into engagement with the grinding wheel 16.

A hook 78 is carried by the table 10 on the side thereof adjacent trackrail 14 and this hook is adapted to be engaged with the tie bar 50 asillustrated in Figure 2 to hold the arms 42 and the rock arms 46 tiltedas illustrated in Figure 2 against the effort of the springs 66 and 68dur- 3 ing the positioning on or removal from the sickle support 48 of asickle S.

In use with the prime mover 20 energized, the grinding wheel 16 will berotated and upon loosening the hooks 58, a sickle S may be positioned onthe sickle support 48 against the stops 52 and clamped in place byturning the nuts 62 to move the hooks 58 into engagement with the sickleS. With the sickle S firmly clamped in place, pressure is applied to thefinger piece 72 carried by a lever 74 which is pivoted as at 78intermediate its ends to one of the rock arms 46. This lever isconnected at its end remote from the finger piece 72 with a link 80which in turn is connected to an arm 42 on the side of the pivot 44thereof remote from the common horizontal axis. Down- Ward pressure onthe finger piece 72 will rock the lever 74 to exert pull on the arm 42and move the entire superstructure about the common axis a distancesuflicient to cause the hook 70 to disengage from the tie bar 50 andpermit the entire assembly on the carriage to move toward the horizontalaxis under the influence of the spring 66. Of course, if desired, thehook 70 may be disengaged from the bar 50 by pressing downwardly on thelatter. The tension of the springs 66 and 68 is so adjusted as to causethe sickle to bear very lightly upon the abrasive wheel 16 and bytilting the rock arms 46, the teeth of the sickle S may be successivelyground by shifting the carriage in its rectilinear path along the track14.

Having described the invention what I claim is:

1. In a sickle sharpener, a platform, an abrasive wheel mounted on saidplatform to rotate about a horizontal axis, a trackway mounted on saidplatform in spaced parallel relation to the horizontal axis, a carriagemounted on said platform to rotate about a horizontal parallel to thehorizontal axis, guide rollers carried by the carriage and engaging thetrackway for holding the carriage in place thereon, upwardly extendingspaced arms carried by the carriage for movement toward and away fromthe horizontal axis of the wheel about a common axis which lies parallelwith the horizontal axis of the wheel, a bridge plate interconnectingsaid spaced arms, spaced elongated rock arms carried intermediate theirends by the arms remote from the common axis of the upwardly extendingarms to rock about an axis which lies parallel to the common axis of theupwardly extending arms, a sickle support carried by the rock armsadjacent the ends thereof nearest the horizontal axis of the wheel, atie bar interconnecting the rock arms adjacent the ends thereof remotefrom the sickle support, a spring interconnecting the sickle support andthe bridge plate to yieldingly advance the sickle support toward thehoriz0ntal axis of the Wheel, and a hook carried by the track way andadapted to engage the tie bar to hold the sickle support againstmovement under the influence of the spring.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein there is provided manuallyoperable release means for said hook.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS192,427 Frost June 26, 1877 756,828 Burkhardt Apr. 12, 1904 937,939Hudson Oct. 26, 1909 1,107,033 Clark Aug. 11, 1914 1,162,304 Neuens Nov.30, 1915 1,903,369 Brown et a1. Apr. 4, 1933 2,166,855 Benda July 18,1939 2,298,394 Littlefield Oct. 13, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 274,314Switzerland Mar. 31, 1951 527,512 Germany June 24, 1931

